Freedom

Independence

Declaration

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Romans 1:20 ESV

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Jefferson condensed the great political philosophy of America into a few basic principles:

there is a God;

He creates men with unalienable rights;

governments exist to protect those rights; and

it is the right of the people to replace a government that violates those principles.

Of the fifty-six men who signed this document, the final to pass away was Charles Carroll, who died at the age of 95. Before his passing, New York City asked him to inscribe his final thoughts on a copy of the Declaration. On it he wrote that he was “Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He has conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation.”

Confirmation

When it was looking like the Continental Congress was going to declare our independence from Great Britain, word was sent out to the various states, telling them that they would need to adjust their foundational documents. Their constitutions and charters would all have assumed various relationships with Great Britain, and that was soon to change. Most of the states made the necessary changes [specifically moving away from Anglican]. These measures were measures that were altered or ratified at the time we declared our independence (1776), going up through the time when we ratified our current Constitution (1789).

There were variations, but in order to hold office, and sometimes in order to vote, you needed to affirm the existence of God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the truth of the Old and New Testaments:

In New Jersey, their 1776 Constitution limited civil rights and office holding to Protestants.

In 1776 Delaware, public office was only open to those who acknowledged that the Old and New Testaments were “given by divine inspiration,” and who professed faith in “God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forever more.”

In the 1776 of Pennsylvania, in order to hold public office a man had to affirm that the “Scriptures of the Old and New Testament [were] given by Divine inspiration.”

South Carolina also had an Anglican establishment, but in their Constitution of 1778, this broadened out a bit. That Constitution said the “Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of this State.”

Maryland had also had an Anglican establishment, but their 1776 Constitution changed that. At the same time, their Constitution said, “all persons, professing the Christian religion, are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.” Office holders were also required to make a profession of their faith in the truth of the Christian religion.

North Carolina disestablished the Anglican church, but their 1776 Constitution set the requirement that only orthodox Protestants were eligible to hold public office.

Continental Congress’ November 1, 1777 national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Decline

Why are we talking about all this?

Psalm 78:1–4 ESV

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark [hidden] sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done… so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

America is currently not a pagan nation, and we are not a secular nation. We are an apostate nation, and there is quite a difference. (Doug Wilson)

An apostate (noun) is someone who completely abandons or rejects their religious faith, political party, or deeply held principles. The term implies a willful, conscious departure from a cause or organization that the person was previously devoted to.

The progression downward has been like this: the Christian faith explicitly stated and affirmed > the Christian faith assumed as something that goes without saying > the Christian faith quietly denied > the Christian faith violently denied. In case you were wondering, we are now at the fourth stage. The antidote to all this nonsense is to affirm, and loudly, the first stage. We cannot clamber back up the slippery slope. We have to jump. (Wilson)

When the Israelites worshiped the golden calf at the base of Sinai [and again in Samaria], they were willfully rewriting history. They were revising history on the fly, tailoring it to suit their lusts. They came to Aaron, openly acknowledging that Moses had brought them up out of Egypt (Ex.32:1). This Moses, who brought us up out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him. Therefore, their argument then went, make us a golden calf, which we will worship as the god who brought us up out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 32:4). “We used to think that Moses did that . . . three verses ago.” Not only were they rewriting history, they were doing so with their eyes wide open. We have done exactly the same thing, and probably for the same reason.

Freedom

Freedom in Christ

Galatians 5:1 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

The Christian freedom he describes is freedom of conscience, freedom from the tyranny of the law, the dreadful struggle to keep the law, with a view to winning the favour of God. It is the freedom of acceptance with God and of access to God through Christ. (Stott, John)

You cannot add circumcision (or anything else, for that matter) to Christ as necessary to salvation, because Christ is sufficient for salvation in Himself. If you add anything to Christ, you lose Christ. Salvation is in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone.

Ours is an age of tolerance. Men love to have the best of both worlds and hate to be forced to choose. It is commonly said that it does not matter what people believe so long as they are sincere, and that it is unwise to clarify issues too plainly or to focus them too sharply.

There are many such slaves in our society today. They proclaim their freedom with a loud voice. They speak of free love and a free life; but in reality they are slaves to their own appetites to which they give free rein, simply because they cannot control them.

Freedom in our lives

Galatians 5:13–14 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Greek word here translated ‘opportunity’ (aphormē) is used in military contexts for a place from which an offensive is launched, a base of operations. It therefore means a vantage-ground, and so an opportunity or pretext.

although we cannot gain acceptance by keeping the law, yet once we have been accepted we shall keep the law out of love for Him who has accepted us and has given us His Spirit to enable us to keep it.

Galatians 5:16 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

there is clearly a distinction between ‘being led by the Spirit’ and ‘walking by the Spirit’, for the former expression is passive and the latter active. It is the Spirit who does the leading, but we who do the walking.

Everyone who has been truly set free by Jesus Christ expresses his liberty in these three ways:

first in self-control

It is freedom not to indulge the flesh, but to control the flesh

next in loving service of his neighbour, and

freedom not to exploit our neighbour, but to serve our neighbour

thirdly in obedience to the law of his God.

freedom not to disregard the law, but to fulfil the law.

flesh is not limited to the physical dimension of man but denotes anything less than and other than God in which man places trust that belongs to God alone (Anders, Max)

Seeing the Fruit

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Freedom from restraint, if it is to be of any use, must be matched by a sense of freedom for a particular purpose. (NT Wright)

It is, rather, a matter of where your true identity lies, where your deepest motivation comes from, and where the power that rules your life is really found.

Pursuit of happiness= worshipping God

the enjoyment of Christian liberty depends on the Holy Spirit. He is presented as our Sanctifier who alone can oppose and subdue our flesh

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

as the apostle had chiefly named works of the flesh, not only hurtful to men themselves, but tending to make them so to one another, so here he chiefly notices the fruits of the Spirit, which tend to make Christians agreeable one to another, as well as to make them happy. (Henry, Matthew)

Closing

John 8:36 ESV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. (Henry, Matthew)

We have the freedom to choose to follow Jesus. He invites us to do so.

Psalm 79:13 ESV

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Lord, as we look at our city and our nation, we cry out to you for help. May this nation be a place where, once again, your name is honoured.